ON YOUR OWN: SKIING

ON YOUR OWN: SKIING; Prepare Your Equipment for Summer Hibernation

By JANET NELSON

Published: April 11, 1988

WHEN temperatures rise, buds begin to appear and days grow longer, most skiers simply pick up their golf clubs or tennis racquets and start a different activity. Skis and boots are forgotten for the summer, left where they were dropped after the last trip to the slopes.

Six or eight months later, some skiers are surprised when they retrieve their ski equipment for an outing. Boots may be coated with mildew; ski edges may be rusted, and bindings may be sluggish.

Unlike most other sports equipment, skis, boots and bindings need a little tender loving care before they are stored for the summer. If they are carefully prepared for hibernation, the preparation required in the fall will be minimal.

Boots, almost completely composed of plastic and man-made fibers, are more resistant to damage than leather shoes, but time and temperature can cause severe damage, particularly from mildew.

''The most important thing is to be sure the boots are completely dry before storing them,'' said Sven Coomer, a ski-shop operator in Mammoth, Calif., and a boot designer. ''In fact, they should be dried out after every wearing, but particularly at the end of the season.''

To dry boots, take the liners out and stuff them with toweling to extract moisture from the fabric and the foam. Getting them bone-dry after an active ski season may take several days. When they are dry, put the liners back in the plastic shells and buckle the boots as you would for skiing.

The plastic of the outer boots has memory and can return to its original shape if left unbuckled, or if the boots are exposed to heat. Buckling the boots is one important step in retaining the desired shape; another is to store them in a cool place. This is particularly important if the boots have been stretched or reshaped to accommodate a problem of fit.

Coomer said mice and spiders were particularly attracted to ski boots, so filling the boots with paper towels is a good idea. If mildew should develop, wash the boots where the mildew appears with a solution of laundry bleach and water (about one cup of bleach to a quart of water). This will kill the fungus. For safety's sake, the soles of the outer boots should be scrubbed clean with detergent and water to remove film, dirt and grit that can hamper the performance of the ski bindings, according to Carl Ettlinger, a binding safety expert.

''Film on the boots where they contact the bindings and grit particles that are ground in the boot soles can increase friction between the boot and binding,'' said Ettlinger, who is president of the Vermont Ski Safety Equipment Company in Underhill, Vt. ''The boot's sole acts as a cam in the binding, and it must keep its shape and be clean to work efficiently.''

Ettlinger also recommended rubbing a light coat of silicone around the boot's sole to protect contact points. Don't apply silicone to the bottom of the sole because this can make it slippery for walking.

There is one school of thinking about binding storage that recommends backing the bindings off to a zero setting to preserve the integrity of the springs. Ettlinger said he doubted the springs would weaken if kept under compression for the life of the binding. He did recommend, however, that bindings be checked and, if necessary, reset by a ski-shop technician at the beginning of the ski season, and more often if they are used for many days of skiing.

Before storing for the summer, flush the bindings with fresh water to remove salt, dirt and debris. When they are dry, spray the bindings with a thin film of silicone, wiping off excess with paper toweling. Ettlinger cautions that WD-40 is not a silicone and should be avoided for use on ski bindings because it can damage the bindings' internal lubricants as well as the Teflon pads and adhesives.

Storing skis for the summer is simply a normal maintenance procedure, according to Blake Lewis, former ski tuner with the United States ski team and now director of competitive services for K-2 Ski Company. The one major difference for summer storage is to be sure that skis are absolutely dry before waxing.

Lewis's maintenance procedure begins with wiping the skis to be sure all surfaces are clean. If there are nicks or any other damaged areas on the bases, repair them with P-tex or have a ski shop do major repair work if the damage is extensive. If the edges need sharpening, use an eight-inch mill file and finish off with 220-grit emery paper and a sharpening stone to polish the steel.

Clean the bases with a ski-cleaning solvent, then polish them with a Scotch Bright pad to put a slight texture in the base. Let the skis dry thoroughly before waxing. If they have been very wet, it may be a good idea to wait a day before applying wax.

Wax can be applied normally, making sure the steel edges are well covered to prevent rust. Also rub a cake of wax along the sidewalls of the steel edges to protect against oxidation. At the beginning of the ski season, scrape off the wax and wipe the base with a Scotch Bright pad, and they will be ready to go.

Today's skis will not lose their camber during long storage as skis used to, but standing them up either separated or strapped together is probably the best procedure. Be sure they are not in contact with a concrete floor because there can be a reaction between the chemicals in concrete and the aluminum in skis.

Ski poles are the one piece of ski equipment that can be treated like most other sports equipment. They are practically indestructible. Clean off any dirt or road salt, place them in a corner and forget them until next season. With the boots, bindings and skis carefully tended to, you can then forget them, too, and go off to play another sport.